Sema Bekirovic

29 October - 3 December 2011

Sema Bekirovic’ (1977, NL) latest film ‘The Others’
shows us a dark forest: a picnic plaid is covered with all kinds of luxurious
food, as if ready for a leisurely picnic. Suddenly, birds, mice and wild boars
take their turns at feasting on the food, while destroying the rug and
tableware. Bekirovic documented this process with a surveillance camera until
all the food had been eaten after a few weeks.

Bekirovic works with the tension between obtaining and
letting go of control, like she demonstrated with her solo show ‘How to stop
falling’ at Galerie Diana Stigter in 2008. In her work, Bekirovic creates a
possibility for something to occur and then lets aspects of chance and
coincidence decide how her work will develop. This is one of the reasons why
animals play an important part within her oeuvre. Her former work ‘Koet’ as
well as her latest film ‘The Others’ (2010-11, 190 min.) shows aspects of
chance coming from the unpredictable behavior of animals.

Further, ‘The Others’ recalls famous characters of
Walt Disney cartoons, in which animals often are 'humanized’ and in which it is
normal to see a bear eating a chocolate cake, even with a knive and fork. But
the animals in ‘The Others’ are real; we cannot project any table manners or
other human behavior on them.

Moreover, ‘The Others’ refers to
the tradition of still life painting. A closer look at most still life
paintings reveals insects hidden in the fruit or fish, or petals of flowers on
the verge of breaking off. Like ‘The Others’, a still life painting is often
used as a symbol of transition and temporariness.